WESTLAKE VILLAGE — They’ll meet tonight on high school football’s grandest stage when coaches Bill Redell of Oaks Christian and Jim Benkert of visiting Westlake face off in the Southern Section’s Northern Division championship.

Twenty-eight years ago, Redell was the one who taught Benkert how to coach.

They first met when Redell was the head coach at Crespi in 1982, and Benkert was a fresh-faced college graduate applying for a lower-level assistant job.

“I didn’t know Bill Redell at all. I came in, and my only experience was coaching junior high kids for one season of flag football,” Benkert said. “I don’t think Bill was too sure he should give me a job, but he ended up hiring me as the defensive coordinator for the frosh team.”

Redell remembers it well.

“The funny thing was, I left after that first season to take a job the with old USFL for a couple of years, so Crespi wasn’t exactly excited when I wanted to come back,” Redell said. “Jim kind of helped, talked them into it.”

When Redell returned, he and Benkert worked together, helping Crespi win the Big Five championship in 1986 – still the only San Fernando Valley-based program to win the Southern Section’s most competitive division.

After six seasons as a Crespi assistant, Benkert arrived at Westlake, while Redell later coached at St.Francis before becoming Oaks Christian’s founding coach 11 years ago.

“Jim is a guy I hold in the highest regard,” Redell said. “He’s a close personal friend before this game, and he’ll be a close personal friend after this game, regardless of the outcome. He’s a special friend to me.”

Whenever Benkert thinks back to those early days together with his mentor, he cracks a wry smile.

“Those years at Crespi were very enjoyable, some of my most enjoyable memories,” Benkert said.

Benkert still remembers spending Sundays at Redell’s house, studying film and filling up on Hamburger Helper.

Benkert also remembers the time Redell needed a ride home from practice, but Benkert had already promised one of the players a ride.

“I had a pickup truck with two seats, and Bill says, `That’s OK, I’ll just sit in the back,”‘ Benkert said. “I think he was scared to death back there, and as we’re heading toward the 101, Bill decides to lie down in the bed of the truck because he had an image to protect and didn’t want anyone to see him riding in the back of a pickup truck. He was lying down back there all the way home to Moorpark, which is where I lived back then.”

Though Westlake (12-1) and Oaks Christian (11-2) are within walking distance, they’ve played each other only once – a 31-12 Marmonte League victory Oct. 1 by Westlake. The teams are together in the same league for the first time after Oaks Christian moved up from the Tri-Valley League.

Benkert, 52, is 190-73-5 (.709 winning percentage) with three section titles. Redell, 69, is 221-62-3 (.773) with seven titles, the past six at Oaks Christian.

They were together again in May when Benkert joined to roast Redell for a benefit in Agoura Hills.

“I helped him raise 100K for that damn new field,” Benkert said with a wink. “But you know what? If I ever asked, he would be right there for me, too.”

When Benkert left Crespi to takethe Westlake job, it wasn’t an easy decision.

“I actually took a pay cut back then, but I wanted to be a head coach,” Benkert said.

The three most important things Benkert knows about coaching come from Redell, Benkert said.

“One, you have to keep it fun because it’s a long season,” Benkert said.

“Two, you have to prepare for everything, how to take a safety, how to take a knee. Everything.

“And three, you have to work together with your coaches because we’re all in this thing together.”

As for their styles, Benkert usually focuses on passing the football, while Redell has a tendency to favor the running game, especially if the coach has a durable tailback, something he has always loved. But Redell likes to pass, too, and both coaches have had teams average 35 points or more over the years.

Neither is a yeller or screamer, somewhat uncommon for a successful football coach, most of whom run teams like the military. And rare is the day when you hear about a player under their command getting into trouble.

“I’ve learned a lot from Coach Benkert about how to conduct myself on and off the field,” Westlake receiver Nelson Spruce said. “As far as the coaches facing each other in the championship game, I guess you always want to beat the one who taught you.”

Added Westlake quarterback Nick Isham: “Coach Benkert has been my mentor for the past three years, and he has taught me a tremendous amount about the game. He’s just a great all-around leader for our team and our program.”

So can the pupil beat the master – again?

“Jim’s teams are very well-coached and don’t make mistakes, and they’ve got a really good quarterback, but I think we have a chance – if we play our best game,” Redell said.

Led by Isham and Spruce, defending Northern champion Westlake has won 26 of 27 games, including that 19-point victory over Oaks Christian, so the Warriors figure to be the favorites.

But don’t be surprised if the old coach, known through the years for his innovative gadget plays, has a few new tricks.

And no matter who wins, the Redell-Benkert rivalry will live on because Redell, who was planning to coach just one more year through 2011, agreed this week to stay longer – at least two more seasons and perhaps as many as four, according to Oaks Christian athletic director Jan Hethcock.

“I told Bill he’s doing a great job and to look at Joe Paterno, who is going to be 84,” Hethcock said. “There’s only one Bill Redell, the way he can connect with kids and adults like no one else I’ve ever met. He’s just got this personality that brings people together. He’s just a phenomenal coach and a phenomenal man. In my opinion, he’s the John Wooden of high school football.”